Training conservative activists, students, and leaders since 1979

Leadership Institute News

Events and Training

Leadership Institute partners with TeenPact to train Christian high school youth

Seventy dedicated Christian youth aged 14-19 spent five days at the Leadership Institute to train for a lifetime of activism and leadership.

With a strong commitment to advancing faith and freedom through community and civic engagement, these students came from 41 states for their annual adventure known as ‘Back to DC’ – a program run by TeenPact.

Founded in 1994 and based out of Richmond, Virginia, TeenPact is a dynamic, hands-on leadership school for Christian students.

TeenPact works to train youth to understand the political process, value their liberty, defend their Christian faith, and engage the culture. The Leadership Institute has partnered with TeenPact for 19 years to help these students achieve those goals.

If you’ve ever wondered how effective Leadership Institute trainings are when it comes to the working world of politics, go ask Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. Better yet, watch and listen from the comfort of your own home as Sen. Rand Paul shares his thoughts on the Leadership Institute and on LI’s founder and president, Morton Blackwell.

“In our office we actually have 6 of our staff who have come out of the Leadership Institute,” said Senator Rand Paul. “My former chief of staff was actually with the Leadership Institute and worked closely with them for many years.”

The goal of the Leadership Institute is to effectively train young conservative activists to be leaders in our nation’s government. Sen. Rand Paul says LI is doing just that.

“I think what’s great about the Leadership Institute is that it does something really no one else is doing…. There’s really nobody [else] training the next generation of people who will be the leadership of our country,” said Sen. Rand Paul. “To me it’s an amazing thing and it is genius for...

From Campus Reform to the New York Times, Leadership Institute graduates are letting freedom ring in the media and making a difference throughout our country.

Former Leadership Institute intern and Indiana University Senior Crayle Vanest, who became the first woman on the board of the lobbying group Students for Concealed Carry, caught The New York Times limelight Wednesday, February 18 speaking out on two explosive college campus issues that have people fired up around the nation.

The New York Times’ article “A Bid for Guns on Campuses to Deter Rape” reports Crayle “said she should be able to carry her licensed .38-caliber Bersa Thunder pistol on campus, where she said she had walked unarmed after her late-night shifts at a library food court.”

The article also quotes Crayle linking the issue of gun rights to the issue of campus safety and sexual assault.

“‘Universities are under a ton of investigation for how they handle...

Though she calls South Carolina home, Samantha Bonsack – soldier, world traveler, and writer – will be the first to tell you she is a Multi-State American Girl. She recently added Iowa to her repertoire of states due to her new job as Congressional Staff Assistant to Rep. Rod Blum.

Samantha, though forging ahead in her political career, came relatively recently to the working world of politics. After a life of military service, and several other jobs that took her across the country and around the world, Samantha sought a new direction in life.

“I began to question the direction of my life,” Samantha said. “I had one job and I was lucky if I got 18 hours! I was pretty bad off at 31 with a degree and a 10 year military background but no open doors.”

Samantha said the Leadership Institute (LI) helped her open a door where at first it seemed there were only walls.